


The Darkest Hour

by Dannilovesangst



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst and Tragedy, Blood and Violence, Bloodlust, Character Turned Into Vampire, Forced, Mild Gore, Murder, Other, Parent-Child Relationship, Vampire Bites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:13:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dannilovesangst/pseuds/Dannilovesangst
Summary: Rome. 410 AD. The Visigoths have invaded and are sacking the city. Plundering her wealth, butchering her people. In the midst of all this violence, the life and destiny of a young Vestal Virgin priestess held captive on the steps of the Temple of Jupiter is about to irreversibly change...
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	The Darkest Hour

**Author's Note:**

> This story is dark and whumpy. You've been warned. Enjoy!

_Rome. August 24 th, Year 410._

The steps of the Temple of Jupiter were slick with the blood of the High Priest.

Helpless to do anything to stop these barbarians from slaughtering her people, Arianna watched in horror and fear from where these pigs were holding her. Next to her, her best friend Cassia was openly weeping. Dimly, Arianna knew she should probably be weeping too. It was her father's lifeless body laying on the steps in front of the barbarian leader after all...

But, try as she might, the Vestal Virgin Priestess couldn't feel anything but anger at these people who'd invaded their city and killed their people. HER people. She'd taken a vow when she'd first entered the goddesses service over a decade ago to serve the people of Rome and their gods in whatever way she could.

A maniac laugh interrupted her thoughts. Glaring up at the barbarian leader standing in a pool of her father's blood on the steps of their most sacred temple, head thrown back, Arianna couldn't help notice his teeth gleaming in the light from the torches set up around the square. They were longer and sharper then anyone else's she'd ever see. They almost looked like fangs...

Before she could tell herself it was a trick of the light and her imagination, the leader turned to look at them. Arianna felt her blood freeze in her veins as his blood red eyes met her blue ones. Lingering for a moment on her, the barbarian grinned, revealing teeth that were way to sharp to be human. Horrified, Arianna found she physically couldn't look away, his gaze paralysing her.

Suddenly she blinked, and the spell broke. The barbarian leered at her, before running his eyes over the row of captive priests and priestesses his lackeys were restraining. Taking a deep breath, Arianna realised she was shaking uncontrollably and felt light headed.

What had just happened?...

Finishing inspecting the line of prisoners, the barbarian bared his fangs at them all, barking an order in their barbaric tongue to his lackeys. As one, those holding the priests captive raised their weapons, dispatching the helpless men with ease. Through her mounting horror, Arianna did notice not one of the women had been killed...

She wasn't given time to contemplate why that was. The leader suddenly rasped something out to his minions, pointing a black fingernail towards her. Seconds later, the barbarian holding her started pushing her forward, towards the leader standing at the top of the stairs.

Realising in a split second what he meant, Arianna started fighting the barbarian holding her. It was futile, the brute being much stronger then her. Realising she was wasting her energy, Arianna closed her eyes, not wanting to see the lifeless bodies littering the surrounds.

The smell was revolting, the steps to the temple sticky and slippery under her sandals. The cries of those sacking the city below wafted up onto the Palatine Hill. The terrified screams, shouts, and crying of men, women and children, and the blood curing battle cries from these barbarians, echoed in the silence that had encompassed the square since their High Priest had been killed.

Feeling stinky hot breath on her cheek, Arianna opened her eyes, glaring at the lead barbarian standing in front of her. Her defiance was short-lived, his red eyes suddenly locking with hers. Unable to look away or even move, despite the fact her guard had let go and stepped back, Arianna felt her fear and horror grow. What was this creature, that he could have such an effect on her just from his eyes? She'd vowed to the goddess never to succumb to the charms of a man, or seek such out, so long as she was in her service!

A sharp fingernail stroked her face surprisingly gently, yet Arianna felt nothing but repulsion and hate. She did NOT want anything to do with this murderer! Yet she was physically incapable of resisting as his finger went lower, lingering over the veins in her neck...

“You scared.”

The words were Latin, but the tone and words were wrong. Glaring at him with even more hate, Arianna fought to bring any part of herself back under her control. If this was her end, she wasn't going out without a fight. She wasn't a passive farm peasant girl. She was a patrician, and Priestess of the goddess Vestal. She was basically royalty. Her family could trace their lineage all the way back to Romulus!

A sudden burning pain erupted from her neck, abruptly tearing her from her thoughts. Screaming in agony and terror, trying to stop the pain from consuming her, she was only vaguely aware of another presence entering her mind...

_No need to be scared. I take care of my things._

Arianna snarled, fury the likes of which she'd never felt in her life swelling up inside her. She served who she wanted to serve, and belonged to no one! Least of all this foul creature! Who did he think he was?!?

_Resistance is futile my dear girl. Your nature makes you want to obey me now..._

The vile voice purring in her head, distracting her so she didn't initially register the dirty hand forcing it's way into her mouth. Chocking at the salty liquid that ran down her throat against her will, Arianna wrenched her head away. Trying in vain to spit it out, Arianna became aware of an all consuming hunger slowly overtaking the fear and agony...

The voice in her head chuckled.

_That's right, my thrall wife. You're one of us now. I -_

The voice got no further. Suddenly feeling the spell the barbarian had cast over her breaking, Arianna yanked herself away from his grip. Snarling at him, she banished his voice from her head with a single thought. The momentarily look of shock and horror on his face was somewhat gratifying, but it wasn't enough.

Only his life would be enough for what he'd done.

With an unbridled anger and absolute surety about what she was doing, Arianna pounced on the barbarian with a snarl. Sinking her teeth into his throat, she bit down hard with an all-consuming hunger, his screams going unheeded...

Eventually running out of blood to suck, Arianna yanked her teeth out of his throat, throwing the corpse away with disgust. The all-consuming hunger was still there, but her will was her own again.

And her will was telling her to destroy as many of these barbarians as possible.

Senses heightened to her surroundings, Arianna dodged an axe coming at her from behind without looking. Spinning around, she leapt at the attacker's throat as he drew back his weapon for another swing. The thump of his weapon hitting the ground as she latched onto the vein in his neck was very gratifying. As were his gradually choked off screams as she drained his body of its life force...

Arianna lost sense of time as she attacked barbarian after barbarian, not once stopping to think about what was happening. All she could focus on was the all-consuming NEED to drink more blood. Lots of blood. The blood of these barbarian invaders who'd dared invade HER city and murder HER people! The blood of these people whose leader had attacked her!!-

“ARIANNA!?!”

The familiar voice cut through the fog of anger and blood lust like a knife, even though the panic and fear in it was unfamiliar. Looking up from the current body with a mouthful of blood, Arianna froze.

“M-Mater?” She choked out, staring at the person cowering against the huge statue of the god in the inner sanctum of what she recognised as the Temple of Jupiter.

“My daughter! By the gods, what have they DONE to you?!?!?!”

The walls suddenly seemed to be closing in. Arianna felt she was suffocating. No. It couldn't be her mater. Her mater was a proud and strong Roman woman, her mater wouldn't cower in the temple, crying!...

Arianna stood there frozen, eyes locked on her mater as she struggling to process what was happening. What had happened to her. Why she could smell her mater's fear?...

Subconsciously crying out her name, Arianna stumbled towards her mater, reaching out to her...just as a huge barbarian appeared and raised his axe over the person cowering against the statue...

Time stood still.

The scene unfolding in front of Arianna's eyes did not.

Glancing behind her, her mater froze, screaming as the axe began its downward arc. Frozen in place herself by an unknown force that had momentarily taken hold, Arianna watched, helpless to do anything...

That is, until the axe made contact with its intended target.

The scream of fear and agony, along with the resulting shower of blood, broke whatever spell had descended on her. Shrieking with unbridled rage, Arianna charged the barbarian before he could even remove his weapon. Knocking him to the ground with a strength she'd never felt before in her life, Arianna latched onto his neck vein, biting down so hard her teeth met as she began draining the murder of his life force...

“Arianna.”

The soft voice penetrated her consciousness. Raising her head panting, warm blood running down her chin, Arianna looked towards where the voice had come from. Her mater was scarcely recognisable from where she was slumped against the statue, her clothes and the ground around her stained with blood. Despite this, the fire in her eyes was unmistakable, though it was rapidly dimming.

“Kill him. I love you.”

With that, the fire died. Arianna stared at the deathly still body, not able to process what had just happened...

Until the man on the ground at her feet spoke, blood bubbling out of his mouth along with the words.

“Too soft to finish the job, eh?”

Arianna saw red.

When she regained her senses, the inner sanctum looked worse then the Amphitheatre after a huge beast fight. Arianna ignored it. For the first time since that moment on the stairs, she didn't feel the need to attack and drain every barbarian within range of blood. Even the putrid smell filling her nostrils didn't bother her. Rather, she felt calm and focused.

Until she looked at the bloody corpse slumped against the statue base.

Swallowing, Arianna carefully stepped over the worst of the gore littering the floor, eventually reaching her mater's body. It was cold and stiff to her touch, and Arianna swallowed at the realisation of the time that must have passed for that to happen. The body stank of death, this whole place stank of death. Arianna suddenly longed for fresh air and blue sky; all she could smell and feel around her was death.

All she could taste was death.

She had to get out of here.

But she wasn't leaving her mater's body behind. Even though she was dead, Arianna could give her a funeral. Kind of. That wasn't her job, but she knew enough of the rituals to at least make sure her mater's spirit would rest in peace.

After she got them out of here.

Carefully gathering the cold body in her arms with ease, Arianna left the inner sanctum without a backwards glance. Despite her mater being smaller in stature then her, Arianna had never been able to pick her up before. Though Pater could pick them both up. The fact she barely felt any weight in her arms at all now made her wonder, but her focus was on getting them out of here. Both the temple, and then the city.

Everything was eerily quiet as she exited the building, the square in front of the temples deserted of all but the corpses of the dead. Cries still echoed up onto the hill from the city below, the dawn sky blotted out by orange-tinted smoke as Rome burnt. Only the official buildings and rich people had homes made of stone. Vast parts of the city were still constructed of wood and other flammable materials. Swallowing hard, Arianna ignored the piles of bodies, concentrating on getting them both down the stairs safely. She knew her father was somewhere among them, but there was nothing she could do about it. She wasn't even sure how she was supposed to get her and her mater's body out without attracting attention...

Breathing a prayer out to the goddess to _please help her_ , Arianna concentrated on descending the Palatine Hill without losing her footing. Her sandals were sticky and slippery from blood, and the lifeless body she was carrying further hampered her movement and balance.

Arianna was almost at the bottom of the hill, still desperately praying, when the goddess gave her a solution to her problem in the form of a sewer grate. Arianna halted, staring at it as an idea entered her mind. If she could make it into the Cloaca Maxima, she would be able to follow the sewer system out of the city.

It wouldn't be pleasant, but it seemed her best hope. She didn't want to fight anymore, which would likely happen if she ran into any of the barbarians again. She just wanted to get out, lay her mater's body and spirit to rest, and then decide what to do next.

It might even be for the best she leave Italia altogether...

* * *

**Pater** – Latin for father.

**Mater** – Latin for mother.

**Cloaca Maxima** – The sewer system running under Rome which drained into the Tiber River.


End file.
